Pearce said: “If one of the reasons we were getting beaten was a lack of effort, I wouldn’t be sat here as manager.

“I’d have gone weeks ago.

“The players are giving it, and giving me, absolutely everything. Where I have failed is in getting in a striker and a goalscoring midfielder.

“But we’re delighted to sign Stefan and hope he’ll be a success.”

The 6ft 4in tall 18-year-old Icelandic prospect Ljubicic is on loan until the end of the season from Brighton’s academy.

Ljubicic has played 14 times for Iceland’s under-18 and under-19 teams, scoring seven goals and he is the Rocks’ second signing in a week.

Winger Anthony Nelson, 20, from the Cayman Islands, has been training with the squad and has now signed, but he is not thought to be quite match-fit enough yet for his debut.

Nelson was brought up in the UK but moved to the USA several years ago. He has been playing for Valparaiso University in the top division of the US Colleges League.

Before moving to the US, Nelson attended the prestigious Shrewsbury School and attracted the attention of Shrewsbury FC. He was called up to play for the Cayman Islands in the Under-20 World Cup qualifying matches in 2017.

Pearce said the club now had a squad of 22, but five of those were injured and not likely to be available for a couple of weeks – much longer in some cases. “Those 22 all need paying and it’s a big squad,” he said.